


Side Effects

by ChaneenW



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s06e03 Triangle, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 22:33:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7241467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaneenW/pseuds/ChaneenW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Mulder's doped-up declaration of love, Scully takes him home to rule out brain damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Side Effects

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to CaroBertaud for all your hard work. :)

 

“Hey, Scully.” Mulder propped himself up on his elbow, looking at her intently.

She turned back to his hospital bed and bent down over the railing. “Yes?”

He paused, staring at her for a few seconds, and then said, “I love you.”

“Oh, brother,” she muttered, turning away. He really was delirious. Shaking her head, she walked out to the hallway where Mulder’s doctor was standing, looking down at his chart.

“How is he?” she asked.

He looked up at her and asked, “And you are…?”

“I’m his partner and a medical doctor,” Scully answered crisply.

The doctor nodded. “He’s doing well. I’m just signing off on his discharge papers now.”

“You are?” she asked in disbelief. “Wouldn’t it be best to keep him overnight? He could have an undiagnosed head injury.”

The doctor consulted the chart. “He has no external lacerations or contusions of the skull, and his MRI didn’t show anything abnormal. He’s been here for twelve hours and his vitals have been good. We treated him for mild hypothermia, and he’ll have a nasty bruise on his jaw. But there’s no reason he needs to stay.”

“But isn’t it possible that he could have a missed concussion? He was saying really strange things earlier that didn’t make sense. I know that can be a sign of an underlying brain injury.”

The doctor smiled and said, “Yes, he did have quite the story to tell, didn’t he? I’m sure it was just a very vivid dream, though, probably brought on by the Percocet he was given earlier. That sometimes causes interesting side effects in some patients. Overall, he appeared lucid enough. But you know him better than I do. Was there anything else that indicated out of the ordinary behavior?”

“Not…that I can think of.”

“Then in my opinion, he’s fine to be discharged this evening. If you’re still worried, though, you can always check him overnight to watch for possible symptoms of concussion. As you know, you should wake him up every couple hours throughout the night and talk to him for a few minutes just to make sure he’s responsive. If he becomes unresponsive, has major episodes of vomiting, or he seems disoriented or confused he needs to come back.”

Scully nodded and turned to walk back in Mulder’s room. But she hesitated, feeling awkward. _It was just a side effect_ she told herself sternly. _He had Percocet in his system and probably has a concussion on top of that. He won’t even remember any of this tomorrow._ But still, she just couldn’t face him at the moment. Telling herself she needed coffee for the long night ahead, she escaped to the cafeteria.

 

*****

 

Fifteen minutes later, thoroughly caffeinated, she steeled herself to walk back to Mulder’s room. Carefully arranging the features of her face into a mask of no-nonsense professionalism, she pushed through the door. Mulder was sitting on the edge of his bed, discharge papers in hand. He glanced up at her and said easily, “What’s up doc?” Scully relaxed a little. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. If they could just ignore his drug-induced confession, they’d both be better off. “I heard you volunteered to be my night nurse,” he continued. His features softened and he added softly, “thank you.”

“Of course, Mulder,” she murmured neutrally, hating that everything seemed to suddenly take on a second meaning. _Gratitude, that’s what gratitude sounds like_ , she reminded herself. Then why did she suddenly feel as if she were sixteen years old again and wondering whether Marcus “liked” her or just liked her as a friend? She cleared her throat and continued, “The cab’s waiting outside whenever you’re ready.”

When they were settled in the cab, Scully gave directions to her apartment. Mulder raised an eyebrow at her in silent inquiry, but she ignored him. If she was going to play doctor all night, she was at least going to do it from the comfort of her own apartment. Besides, he didn’t even own a bed, she knew. She’d checked.

They walked into Scully’s apartment and she turned to him, saying, “You’ll take the bed, of course.”

“Scully, I don’t want to kick you out of your bed. I’m used to sleeping on a couch.”

“My couch is shorter than yours,” she pointed out. “You’d never get any sleep and the doctor said it’s important that you get a lot of rest tonight. I’ll get some clean sheets.”

He nodded, resigned, and they walked into the bedroom, both pausing a bit when they saw the bed. Scully immediately flashed back to the last time he’d slept in her bed, clad only in boxer-briefs. She swallowed thickly. Why had that felt less awkward than now? _Oh, that’s right. He’d been unconscious. And hadn’t just declared his love for you._

She observed that Mulder must have been thinking something similar about the bed because he said, “I guess we should have stopped by my place first so I could have grabbed some of my things.”

Without thinking, Scully responded, “I have a t-shirt of yours that you can wear.” She immediately bit her lip, realizing how that sounded. “Um, let me see if I still have it.” To cover her embarrassment at the admission, she went to work pretending that she didn’t know the shirt was in the third drawer on the right with the rest of her pajamas.

She produced it after what she thought was an adequate amount of searching, also grabbing a t-shirt and flannel pajama pants for herself, making sure they were the baggiest she owned. “I don’t even remember why I have this,” she said with forced casualness while handing his shirt to him. “It probably got mixed up in my luggage from some field assignment.”

Mulder turned the well-worn gray t-shirt over in his hands carefully. “Scully, do you wear this?” he asked incredulously.

“Um, no, I just…”

He bent down to her and whispered in a low, gravelly voice, “You can have it back when I’m done.”

She flushed and turned away, admonishing herself for the butterflies that had invaded her stomach at the sound of his voice in her ear. What was he doing? Was he still drugged up? She regarded him out of the corner of her eye, but he didn’t appear to be loopy or out of it. But then again, he wasn’t due for another Percocet for a couple hours. Was blatant flirting one of the side effects? Did he know what he was doing to her?

She looked up at him and his eyes twinkled mischievously. Oh yes, he did. If he didn’t have a concussion, she just might have to give him one. “Here are the sheets, Mulder,” she said through gritted teeth. “Good night.”

“Thanks, Scully. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” he said cheerfully as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

 

*****

 

A couple hours later, Scully awoke with a start. She was disoriented at first, wondering why her back hurt and her alarm clock was going off at midnight. Then she remembered that she was sleeping on the couch. And Mulder was in her bed.

Groggily, she climbed off the couch and made her way to her bedroom. Opening the door, she called out softly, “Mulder?” No answer. She crept closer to the bed and said a little louder, “Mulder? Are you awake?”

A bit alarmed now that he didn’t answer a second time, she snapped on her bedside lamp and bent more closely over him, running her hand over his cheek. “Mulder? Mulder??” She sat down on the bed next to him and was contemplating calling the hospital when he suddenly reached up and tweaked her nose.

“Gotcha big time,” he said, grinning.

“Damn you, Mulder!” She said, laughing. “How are you feeling?”

“Not bad, overall. But my jaw hurts like hell,” he said, touching it and wincing.

“Yeah, it does look like it’s swelling a bit. I’ll go get some ice.” She moved to leave, but he grabbed her elbow and pulled her back down on the bed.

“No, it’s fine. Well, it’s not, but I’ll live. You’ve got a strong right hook, Scully.”

“Oh, right, in your alternate universe. Why would you dream that I punched you in the face, anyway?”

“Come on, like you’ve never thought about doing it?” He laughed. “To be fair, though, I did kiss you, so I probably deserved it.”

Scully squirmed a bit. He was dreaming about kissing her? _Had he meant it? Did I want him to have meant it?_ She thought of all the questions she could ask him at this moment, and then threw caution to the wind by asking one she really wanted an answer to.

“How was it?”

“The kiss or the punch?” Mulder quipped.

“I’ll let you decide.”

“Hmm…It was firm, intense, and took my breath away. In fact, I’m pretty sure I saw stars.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. “Go back to sleep, Mulder,” she said, standing up. “I’ll see you in two hours.”

 

*****

 

The next time Scully walked into the bedroom, she was surprised to find that the bed was empty. Mulder was in the bathroom, she reasoned, so she sat down on the bed to wait for him. She yawned a bit as she sank into the mattress. Her bed was so comfortable and that damn couch was like sleeping on a rock.

She lay down, turned her head to the side, and breathed deeply. Her pillowcase smelled just as she expected it would: like sage and rain. Like Mulder. As she took a few more breaths, knowing all the while just how ridiculous she was, she suddenly realized that she might have been making assumptions. After all, “I love you” could have several meanings, depending on the situation and the people involved. He could very well have meant, “I love you, thanks for helping find my location so I could be fished from the sea.”

She laughed to herself at her earlier foolishness. Of course. He didn’t have a brain injury and he hadn’t made any sudden and sweeping announcements about the state of their relationship. He was merely stating that he loved his dependable pal, Scully. But…there was also the dream about him kissing her. The thought of it made her a little dizzy. Certainly, she had imagined kissing Mulder. Probably even dreamed of it herself, if she was honest about it. But to actually know exactly what his lips felt like, to know what his tongue tasted like? She squeezed her legs together and buried her face deeper into the pillow, sighing softly.

“Scully?”

“Wha--?” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”

Mulder laughed. “It’s about ten after two. You’ve probably been asleep for five minutes. I almost went to go crash on the couch without waking you, but I figured you’d be upset if you didn’t get to examine your patient exactly at the two hour mark.”

“You definitely don’t want to sleep on the couch,” she said ruefully, rubbing her neck.

“Scully, I said I can—“

“I’m fine.” She stood up and motioned for him to take her place in the bed.

But instead he faced her, moving closer so she could feel his breath on her neck and shoulders. It was dark enough that his features were blurry but not so dark that she couldn’t tell he was gazing at her intently. “So am I,” he said softly. “And I think we both know that I’ve been fine all night. You don’t need to come back in two hours to check on me.” He paused. “Unless you want to.”

“I offered to help,” she murmured weakly. “Of course I wanted to.”

“I’m saying that the ball’s in your court,” he said meaningfully, getting into the bed and pulling the covers over his body. He looked up at her. “Good night, Scully.”

 

*****

 

At 3:00 AM, Scully was still awake, tossing and turning. This time, it had little to do with the uncomfortable couch and everything to do with four little words he’d just spoken, words that were even more disconcerting than the three he’d said earlier that evening.

_Unless you want to._

Why would she want to wake up anybody at 4:00 AM? If he had assured her he was fine and that she didn’t need to check on him, then why go into the bedroom at all? To have a middle of the night chat? Anything they had to say to each other could wait until morning. Right? Right. There were no valid reasons she needed to wake him up before morning.

But, then, needs were very different than wants. She knew this. But she wasn’t sure she knew exactly what she wanted. Well, no, that wasn’t quite true. She wanted Mulder’s trust, respect, and friendship. She wanted an honest partnership that was equal in all ways and that helped them each become better people. But she also wanted to stop dancing around an imaginary line. She wanted to be able to take his hand, stroke his cheek, and hug his neck without the excuse of one or both of them having just escaped danger. She wanted to know what it felt like to be half an inch away from solving the mystery of that bottom lip and not be interrupted by a damn bee.

Most of all, she wanted to know why he’d said it. _You’ll never know if you don’t walk in there._ She looked at the clocked and sighed. 3:15 AM. He could not possibly want her to wake him up in 45 minutes. Normal people wanted to sleep at night. He must have meant that while he felt he was fine, he would defer to her decision in this matter because she had more experience as a medical doctor.

Even as she tried to convince herself that any of this was still about concern for his well-being, she was already dismissing it out of her mind. They both knew that if she walked into that room, it wouldn’t be under the cover of checking for a concussion. It would be because she wanted to—

_What? What do you want to have happen if you go wake him up in the middle of the night? Are you going to jump him? Play shadow puppets? Talk about the meaning of life?_

She wondered briefly if delirium was a side effect of sleep deprivation because she was definitely feeling it, no Percocet needed. Clearly, recklessness was, too, because she decided she was going to do it. She was going to visit Mulder and somehow figure out why he seemed so intent on driving her crazy all night.

She groaned and kept turning everything over in her mind until finally, at 3:48 AM, she couldn’t take it anymore. _Close enough._

She quietly padded toward the bedroom door and cautiously pushed it open. She approached the bed and saw that Mulder had kicked the blankets off half of his body, so that only the right side of him was covered. Resisting the urge to cover him up, she admired him for a few moments, noting that his breathing was even and he was in a deep sleep.

She almost didn’t want to wake him and contemplated just watching him for a few minutes before slipping back off to bed. God, he was beautiful. A few strands of hair had fallen onto one of his eyelids, and she couldn’t help but brush them away, her fingers lingering on his skin.

At her touch, though, he shifted a bit and his eyes fluttered open. She looked down into his eyes and smiled. “Hey, Mulder.”

“Scully.” There was a trace of incredulity in his voice. And then he looked at her more closely. “Scully, are you okay? You look a bit rough. I mean, just tired,” he added hastily.

“I didn’t get much sleep these past couple of hours,” she admitted.

“Oh? I hope it wasn’t something I said…?” he asked innocently.

She smirked at him and lied, “No, it’s just that stupid couch.”

He reached up and took her hand. “Come here,” he said in a husky voice, pulling her to the bed.

The sensation of his fingers on hers and the rough sound of his voice disarmed her, and she found herself lying prone on the bed with Mulder poised above her. He swept her hair back from her shoulders and started to gently knead her muscles.

“Mulder…?”

“I just want to give you a back rub. It’s the least I can do for stealing your bed.” He leaned over her while he spoke quietly into her ear, and it made her body quiver. He must have noticed the effect he’d had on her because he added playfully, “Don’t worry, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

She relaxed as his fingers worked over her neck and back, slowly massaging the tension she’d been carrying. He worked in silence while she let out little moans of approval now and then. His hands felt so good and it had been a long time since she’d felt this kind of touch. She stretched out a bit more and he ran his hand through her hair, briefly pausing to stroke it gently. He lingered on her neck as well, caressing it gently before resuming the real work of rubbing her shoulders.

She wished that he would return to her hair and her neck, and as if he could read her mind, he swept her hair to the other side of her shoulders and leaned forward. She could feel the faint tickling of his breath on her shoulders and drew in her breath. So faintly that she thought she imagined it, she felt his lips on her neck, softly moving across her skin. But then he was frustratingly all business again, and she whimpered softly in protest.

He paused, listening to her, and returned to her hair, caressing it softly, working his hands through her tresses. He moved down to her neck and ran his fingers softly down either side and then up again to her cheeks. And with each stroke, each caress, Scully knew. She couldn’t deny it anymore. He was telling her body what her mind had already known for years: that he loved her.

She shifted a bit, also realizing the effects that his touch had on the rest of her body. His fingers skipped down her back and swept up again in wide strokes, each time reaching closer to the sides of her breasts yet keeping them just out of reach. He was making her senseless with want. She barely resisted arching her back and raising up to meet his hands when they hovered tantalizingly just above her butt, playing with the hem of her t-shirt.

“Tell me what you want, Scully,” he whispered. She groaned, wriggling slightly. Her body knew exactly what it wanted, was screaming at her, in fact, to let him touch her all over and not just under the pretense of a back rub. But her mind was slower, rational, reminding her that she probably didn’t want their first time to be in the dark at 4 o’clock in the morning. She wanted to be able to see him clearly.

“I think maybe it’s time for me to go back to the couch,” she said regretfully, sitting up a bit unsteadily and turning to face him.

Mulder sat back, looking as if he’d expected it. “Scully, I can’t let you go back to the couch again. You need to get some sleep. Really,” he said, holding up a hand at her feeble protests. “Besides, I worked out all of those knots in your shoulders. They’ll just end up coming back again.”

She refrained from mentioning that those knots were most likely stress-related and had formed when she’d heard that Mulder was missing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Instead she looked at him, noting the expression on his face. He was so incredibly hot when he was begging her with his eyes. 

Interpreting her hesitation as a good sign, he suggested casually, “Just lay here beside me, then. Remember, I already promised to be a perfect gentleman.”

And there it was. She’d been hoping he would offer for her to stay, so she only pretended to think about it as much as she thought would be decent. She stretched out on her back on the right side of the bed, and he did the same on the left. She noted the two feet of space between them, as if they were at a junior high dance. “Okay, but no funny business,” she joked.

“Of course not,” he said, smiling. “And I’ll see you again in two hours.”

“That’s very funny.”

“We do have a schedule to keep, if you remember.”

“Mulder,” she protested. “There’s really no reason.”

“Sure, there is,” he said. “We have to finish out the night.”

 

*****

 

Scully felt the warm sunshine that filtered in from the blinds and marveled at how comfortable she was in her own bed with her soft sheets and plump pillows. Sighing a bit with contentment, she opened her eyes and she found herself looking straight into a pair of hazel ones, not six inches away.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” said the owner of those incredibly sexy eyes.

As she slowly woke up, she realized that at some point while they slept, their bodies had drifted toward each other to the center of the bed. Their legs were tangled together and one of his arms was slung over her waist. Her own hands, she noted, were folded up and resting on his chest. She smiled at him, surprised at how natural it felt to wake up with Mulder.

“This doesn’t look like six o’clock,” she noted.

“No, it’s more like eight,” he answered. “I didn’t want to wake you when you looked so peaceful.” He pushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger on her cheek for a few seconds. “I love watching you sleep. You’re so beautiful, Scully,” he whispered in awe.

Without conscious thought, she snuggled closer to him, feeling his heartbeat beneath her palms. He answered by moving his hand, the one that had been around her waist, slowly up her back and then down passing down over her butt and the back of her legs before coming back to her waist again.

It felt so good that Scully felt like purring. Out loud she teased, “I thought you were going to act like a perfect gentleman.”

“I am,” he replied, his lips grazing the top of her head. “A perfect gentleman takes care of his lady.”

The possessive pronoun was not lost on her, and Scully brought her own hand up to his face to caress it gently. “The doctor was right,” she murmured, carefully turning his jaw so she could take a look at it. “You’re going to have a huge bruise.”

“You know,” he said conversationally, “I think I remember hearing that for these types of injuries, you need to keep moving them and work out the strain so they don’t get too sore. What do you think about that, Dr. Scully?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, that just might work.” She slid her fingers across his lips and asked softly, “what sort of exercise did you have in mind?”

Instead of answering, Mulder cradled her face in his hands and leaned forward, almost tentatively. Her eyes connected with those of her partner and best friend, realizing that she wasn’t nervous at all and that it felt natural to be here in this moment with the man who’d been by her side for years. She closed her eyes in anticipation and tipped her head back as he closed the gap, bringing his lips down on hers, lightly exploring at first and then gradually deepening the kiss. She responded eagerly, sucking and nipping his bottom lip roughly.

“Gently,” he yelped into her mouth, reminding her that his mouth was tender.

She broke apart with concern on her face. “Are you all right?”

They held each other’s gaze for a long moment before he answered. “I’m kissing the most beautiful woman in the world,” he whispered. “What do you think?”

Scully wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you too,” she answered.

His eyes filled with unspoken emotion, but he covered it with a joke. “And it only took you, let’s see, twelve hours to reply,” he said, pretending to check his watch.

She smiled and hushed him with another kiss, trying to be softer this time even though every part of her body was starting to burn. He twisted his hands in her hair and slowly explored her mouth, and she pressed close against him and felt him growing hard against her thigh. She answered by rocking her pelvis against him as he groaned softly.

When they pulled apart again, she saw the desire on his face and knew the same was mirrored in her own. Mulder played with the hem on her shirt again, with a question in his eyes, and this time she nodded readily.

They both sat up and he raised her shirt slowly, taking the time to run his fingertips along her skin, sending tingles along her spine. His eyes swept down to her breasts, his breath catching as he gazed at each one of her curves, and then he glanced back up to her face, bringing his mouth down on hers one more time. She was almost disappointed, but he didn’t linger there long, dragging his lips down her chin, to the hollow of her neck, and to the swell of the tops of her breasts. Her breathing turned ragged and she had to put her hands on his back to steady herself.

She pulled at his shirt and he helped her lift it over his head. His chest was broad and firm with perfectly shaped abs and pectoral muscles. She couldn’t help running her fingers along the fine hair on his chest before he handed the shirt to her. They looked at each other and grinned, both remembering the evening before. “There, I returned it to you,” he said softly, before moving his mouth again over her breasts. He took his time, kissing one nipple, swirling it around with his tongue, and then the other before moving slowly down her belly while she leaned back, shuddering at his touches.

Just before he reached the edge of her pajama pants, he paused and looked up at her. “Don’t stop,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?” he asked. She knew he was worried about rushing into this right after their first kiss. He was always focused on what she wanted, what she needed. It had always been one of the things she most appreciated about him, but at this point she was on fire and needed him to touch her. Now.

“Yes,” she moaned. She wanted this. She’d wanted this for years; it wasn’t rushing at all. Mulder pulled her pajama pants down in one swift movement and bent his head down, planting light kisses on her through her already-soaked panties. She knew he wanted this to be good for her and wanted to make it last, but she had no idea how he could feel so much restraint. She unconsciously opened her legs and he pushed her panties to the side and traced along the outside of her folds, feeling the slickness through her trimmed hair. He skimmed her panties off her butt, slipping them slowly over her thighs, down her calves, and off her feet.

He paused a moment to look down at her, and she saw on his face just how beautiful she was. He pushed her legs further apart and positioned himself between them and lightly kissed her inner thigh up to her pubic bone and then down the other side as Scully writhed beneath his touch. Then he dragged his tongue across her outer lips in a circular motion around her clit but never quite touching it as she whimpered for more. Finally, to her relief, he spread her lips apart and lowered his mouth to her clit, sucking on it gently.  “Oh my god, Mulder,” she moaned and pushed her body up to meet him. Keeping his mouth on her, he inserted a finger, pushing into her wetness and then when she sighed in approval, he added another, curling them forward, slowly sliding them in and out.

If this went on much longer, she was going to come like this, and she wanted him to be inside her. She reached up and tugged at his boxer-briefs and pulled them down his legs. He stepped out of them and paused to watch her appraise him. She looked down and then back up at him with a smile. As their eyes locked, what she saw there, the raw emotion and adoration, was more than anything she could have imagined. He was hers and always had been.

He leaned down to kiss her again and she slowly reached between them and wrapped her fingers around his cock. He gasped into her mouth and thrust his hips forward slightly to encourage her to start stroking his shaft as he moaned in delight. Scully broke away from the kiss and looked at him with a smile on her face, wanting to tease him in the same way he had done for her. She began kissing his chest all the way down to his belly button and then slowly dragged her tongue down to the head of his cock and began licking lightly around it. Mulder closed his eyes and leaned his head back, bringing his hands up to her hair. “Scully,” he panted after a few moments, his voice strained.

She pulled away from him and positioned herself at the edge of the bed, spreading her legs and waiting for him in anticipation. He hovered over her, hesitating again once more while looking into her eyes, his own filled with reverent longing. _Is this what you want? Do you want me?_ ” Please,” she breathed and he sank into her in one fluid motion making her inhale sharply. He moved slowly at first, helping her adjust, and his eyes never left her face.

Mulder started to increase his pace as Scully began to move to meet his thrusts. She felt herself let go and open up to him, moaning as he found the right spot. As she let her head fall back, he bent down and kissed her neck, biting it gently. They moved together, forming a connection at every level, and her whole body was humming from the sensation of being stretched and filled as she clutched at him, urging him on. _Harder. Faster._ After several moments, he whispered in her ear, “Come for me, Scully.” His voice, rough and breathy, was almost enough alone. She reached down between them and rubbed herself, making small circles around her clit as he thrusted even harder. She felt a delicious tension in her lower body as her inner muscles began to tighten. Her name was on his lips and hearing him moan it was all it took to push her over the edge, a small scream coming from the back of her throat as she rocked against him, waves of pleasure cascading over her.

She felt him strain against her, knowing that he could feel her tighten around him. A few more frantic thrusts and then he groaned loudly and came hard inside of her. His body then went slack and she welcomed the weight of him leaning into her as she ran her fingers up and down his back, relishing the closeness for a few moments more. After shuddering in bliss a few more times, Mulder eased himself off of her and rolled to her side, and she turned to face him so they were in the same positions they had been in when they first woke up.

He reached over and caressed her face gently, and then smiled to himself.

“What?” she asked.

“I’m just wondering if I’m going to wake up in the hospital and all of this will have been a hallucination.”

Scully propped herself up on her elbow and arched her eyebrow at him. “You’re convinced that you went sailing with Hitler but you think _this_ was just a dream?”

He pulled her back down to his side and replied, “Well, only one of those scenarios seemed like it ever could have come true.”

She curled up against him, marveling at how normal it felt now, and joked, “I just hope I measured up to your dreams.”

She expected him to laugh, but instead he turned serious and looked deeply into her eyes. “You’ve surpassed them,” he said quietly. “I love you, Scully.”

She felt her body shiver and her pulse quicken at his words, and she smiled at the sensations. If these were the side effects of falling in love, she’d take them.


End file.
